Free Murder and a Song (A Pattie Lansbury Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) by Nancy C. Davis Page A

and O’Malley seemed to sense that this was a friendly and safe place to
be. 

                “The
cat is the lynchpin,” Pattie told D.C. Downey. “And once I’ve had a bit of time
with him, I’ll be able to tell you how. 
Meanwhile, we don’t know what these awful men are up to, or what they’re
really capable of.”

                “We’ll
catch them,” the D.C. assured her. “Goodnight, Mrs Lansbury.”

                “Goodnight
… and good luck.”

                D.C.
Downey walked back to his car, where it was parked at the side of the road with
another officer at the wheel.  Pattie
closed the door and looked at herself in the small mirror nailed to the wall,
rubbed her eyes and called for Simba. 
Simba trotted up for a nuzzle, and Pattie scratched him behind the ear
where he liked it. “Good boy, for making friends, Simba.”

                Pattie
collected a box of treats from a drawer and rattled them.  O’Malley put his head around the corner.  So Seth and Elaine MacGowan at least treated
their feline friend occasionally; he was familiar with the sound and associated
it with tasty goodness.  She took out a
treat and held it out for him to eat.  He
was not shy about approaching her and nipping it out of her fingers with his
teeth.

                She
sat in the armchair and let him come to her for more.  Once he’d had a few she put the box behind
her back and turned him around to examine him.

                O’Malley
was a gorgeous ginger tabby with a fleecy white belly and white legs.  Strangely, his tail was also white, as was
the back of his neck.  His tabbyness was
restricted to a saddle on his back, giving him a turtle-ish appearance when he crouched,
and a cap on his head.  Pattie checked
his paws: good sharp claws and strong pads, which signified an adventurous
outdoors cat.  His fur was in good
condition, although there were several burrs caught up in it, which Pattie
picked out for him.  There was a thinning
around his neck from collar-use.  He had
clear eyes and strong, clean teeth and gums. 
He was nice and plump.

                There
was nothing to suggest that O’Malley was anything but an active farm cat with
an attentive owner.  Pattie fed him one
last treat, and then put out a clean blanket for him to curl up on.  She was surprised to see that he was quite
lethargic.  Perhaps he’d recently eaten a
bird?  Maybe giving him those treats had
been a bad idea … But then, poor O’Malley had been through quite an ordeal:
trapped in a box for some reason, possibly for two days or so, and why?  Even being in the custody of a police
Constable and now safely at Pat’s Whiskers would be a little traumatic.  How was he to know that he was finally safe
and about to be returned home?

                She
went to the phone and dialled for the MacGowan farm.  She wanted to tell Seth and Elaine that their
cat was safe and would be returned to them ASAP.  There was no answer.  She left her usual polite voicemail and hung
up.

                Pattie
thought about it for a moment, then picked up the receiver to dial for Elliott
Knight.

Chapter 21

    It was getting close to 21:30 at the
festival campsite.  Constable Palmer was
slumped back in the driver’s seat of the police van.

                “How
long are we going to wait out here, Juliette?” asked Officer Peterson. “These
guys must be on to us; they’re not going to come back now.”

                “Idiots
like these will come back for their stuff,” Constable Palmer told him. “You can
bet on it.  They’re probably just hiding
out in a beer tent somewhere and hoping we’re gone by the time they get back.”

                “Well,
the police van’s hardly inconspicuous,” said Officer Hill, who was sat in the
back keeping the log and trying not to fall